Anxiety: Can Trapped Emotions Cause Anxiety?

Whileanxietyis just one of many emotions that one can experience throughout their life and without too many problems arising, it can also be something that ends up being completely out of control. It is then not just another emotion that one can experience; it is something that can end up defining ones whole life.

Fear for example, is something that can help or hinder one’s life. If fear was removed from someone and they didn’t have the ability to feel it, it would be dangerous. They would end up doing things that are far from safe and it probably wouldn’t be long until their life would come to an end.

When fear is in its rightful place and not out of control, it will allow one to survive. To instinctively know if something is safe or not is vital for ones survival and not something that should be resisted.

And yet if one was in a constant state of fear, their life is not going to be too pleasant either. To be in this position could cause one to be paralysed with fear and their whole life would then come to a standstill. Life would not be something that one embraces and therefore enjoys; it would be something they do their best to avoid.

Out Of Control

So emotions are not negative per se, but they can end up limiting ones quality of life, if they end up being out of control. If one is being controlled by their emotions and not experiencing any kind of self control, then there will be problems.

For one to be in a place of constanthappinessand joy is not likely to be seen as ‘negative’ at first glance. However, to be this way all the time could cause one to overlook parts of their life and to even deny certain problems that arise in their life.

Today’s Problems

This would not be healthy and yet there are probably more people in the world today that are stuck when it comes to seeing life in a ‘negative’ way, than people who are stuck when it comes to seeing life in a ‘positive’ way.

And this is surely why fear andanxietyis something that is high on the list of what are described as being mental and emotional problems. And not people who suffer from being overly happy or joyful for instance.

Different Areas

Anxietyis something that one can experience more or less all of the time or it can be something that only appears in certain situations. And even when there is nothing going on externally and one is an environment that is reasonably safe for instance, it can still appear.

So this means that while there may be an external reason for its appearance, it can also appear without anyone being around and as a result of what is going on in their mind and body.

And whileanxietycan be something one experiences most of the time, it can also appear: just before one has an exam, in social situations, when it comes to talking to the opposite sex and around authority figures.

When anxiety is experienced, one is going to find that their breathing rate increases. Panic to one degree or another will appear, as will the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is not an experience where one is going to feel a sense of control or personal power.

One’s mind is going to create all kinds of scenarios, as well as different thoughts. But these thoughts could end up being crowded out by how one feels. So the whole thing could end up being more of an emotional experience than a mental one.

One Approach

Thoughts are often said to create how one feels and based on this outlook, it would then be important for one to change how they think. Through doing this, they would be able to either lower their anxiety or stop it from appearing altogether.

And for some people this will work and that will be the end of it. But what this doesn’t look at is what is going on at a deeper level. Because even though so much attention has been placed on our thoughts when it comes to our level of mental and emotional health, inherently, we are emotional beings.

Survival

How we feel can also define how we think and out thoughts are not always in control.Anxietyis similar to anger, in that, it is there to warn someone that their survival is under threat or that it could be.

So when one is in an environment where this is the case, anxiety is doing what it needs to do and that is to keep one alive. However, when ones survival is not under threat and they still feel anxious, it is clear that something else is going on.

Trapped Emotions

The body can carry trapped emotions and this can be due to one experiencing some kind of trauma. And as the trauma was never processed, it has stayed in their body.

This could have been in their adult life or through what happened during their childhood years. It doesn’t have to be something that was extremely traumatising, as it could relate to something that was fairly mild and yet gradually wore one down.

So time has passed and their mind might have even forgotten about what happened, but their body remembers and still carries the emotional pain and therefore continues to experience life in the same way. And these trapped emotions will define how one interprets their reality.

Going Deeper

Under the anxiety could be the feeling of being powerless, that one has no control and even that they are going to die, amongst others; with these feelings being held just above their stomach. For if one didn’t feel this way and felt a sense of power, there is unlikely to be the need to feel so anxious.

And these feelings can seem completely out of place based on ones current environment. But if one was to see get in touch with what happened to them in their past, these feelings could be normal and expected.

Awareness

So as these trapped emotions are released from their body, their anxiety levels are likely to change. And this can be done with the assistance of a therapist or a healer who will allow one to get in touch with their emotions and gradually release them.

Author's Bio:

Prolific writer, thought leader and coach, Oliver JR Cooper hails from the United Kingdom. His insightful commentary and analysis covers all aspects of human transformation; love, partnership, self-love, and inner awareness. With several hundred in-depth articles highlighting human psychology and behavior, Oliver offers hope along with his sound advice. Current projects include "A Dialogue With The Heart" and "Communication Made Easy."